United Stringdom: Using Alternate and Economy Picking to Play Blazingly Fast Runs

The following content is related to the June 2013 issue of Guitar World. For the full range of interviews, features, tabs and more, pick up the new issue on newsstands now, or in our online store.

Two of my essential techniques for playing the fastest lead passages in my performances with Falling in Reverse are alternate picking and economy picking. As the names imply, alternate picking involves alternating between downstrokes and upstrokes, while economy picking entails reducing, or economizing, the amount of pick-hand motion used to perform single-note runs while picking every note.

This month, I’d like to show you some examples of both picking techniques and demonstrate how I integrate them to play a fast three-bar passage from my guitar solo in the song “Goodbye Graceful.”